At Least We Have Our Health
by The Brat Prince
Summary: Taichi's been doing something that none of his friends know about. He wants to tell his secret to Yamato, but how will he take it? Taito, Yaoi.
1. On Why Taichi Likes To Daydream

At Least We Have Our Health… 

Prologue

A/N: I haven't written a Digimon fic in forever. Don't worry, I've kept up to par with Harry Potter slash (don't worry, Marcus and Oliver, I haven't forgotten you). Although I am kind of on strike from so I suppose I'm misbehaving. Anyway, rated for a few naughty words and sexual references, and for anything my devious mind devises in subsequent chapters. By the way, this story contains yaoi, slash, homosexuality, or whatever other word turns your world. That means there will be boy on boy action and if you're twelve, you probably shouldn't read it. (Jondy is a hypocrite, she got into Digimon slash when she was twelve. Way, way back. But then Jondy has a dirty mind and a dirty mother who pinches the butts on statues at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.) Don't own 'em, don't want to own 'em, unless they're house trained.

Taichi Yagami didn't like the word 'gay'. He also wasn't fond of 'queer', 'fag', or even 'homosexual'. When push came to shove, he'd just as soon leave all talk of sexuality alone. Taichi preferred to think of soccer, video games, and massive amounts of food. It wasn't that he was simple minded, but rather that he saw no use in over thinking things. Why make life so complicated? All Taichi Yagami really wanted at the tender age of sixteen was to die young and stay pretty. Okay, he didn't really care about staying pretty, as long as he looked good enough that the boys-ahem, girls would flock to him.

The problem was, Taichi's beyond drop dead gorgeous best friend (who happened to be just about the prettiest guy he'd ever laid eyes on) made it so gosh darned difficult to not think about that word. Gay. He was gay. Taichi, not Yamato Ishida, the aforementioned best friend. And there Yamato was, licking away at his bubblegum flavored ice cream cone in the most erotic way Taichi had ever seen.

"Tai? Tai?" Yamato waved his hand back and forth in front of his best friend's face. The brunette had been staring at his ice cream for a full minute. Yamato had planned on asking him if he wanted some, if the boy ever came back down to earth. It was funny, when he'd bought the ice cream, Tai had demanded to know why he always bought the fruity flavors.

"Oh? Ah, sorry Yama. I wasn't really paying attention," Taichi lowered his head guiltily, a blush spreading over his olive skinned cheeks. Taichi had such strange coloring for a Japanese boy. Then again, Yamato wasn't one to talk, with his glossy blonde hair and narrow blue eyes.

"Figures. You ask me to tutor you in Literature, then zone on me."

"Hey! I can't help it. I know The Tale of the Heike is one of Japan's best sellers, but it's so boring! I mean how often can the author describe what a single samurai was wearing?" Taichi demanded.

Yamato laughed, "Apparently every other page."

He had to admit, the Tale of the Heike was a little redundant. It was a great war story, full of nobility and all that jazz, but Yamato preferred a little tamer classic. Perhaps the Tale of Genji. Yeah, Japan's first fictional Casanova tended to make him a bit weepy. He felt like such a woman sometimes, but maybe that was only because his girlfriend called him one. Yamato smiled. Taichi liked to tease him that his girlfriend Sora was more manly than he was. She was rougher than most girls. Yamato loved when she came home from soccer practice, reeking of grass and sweat and Taichi. He didn't think it strange at all that he associated his girlfriend's sweat with the comforting smell of Taichi, or gross for that matter.

"Do you think I could look it up online?" Taichi suggested, "Maybe they have the abbreviated version."

Exasperated, Yamato said, "Tai, you only have to read one chapter. It's like, twelve pages. I swear they only mention late Heian age fashion statements once."

"But, but, but…Yama. I hate reading!"

"I can't read it for you," Yamato warned, acutely aware of how his friend's mind works.

"Do you think Koushiro might?"

"You have to be kidding."

"Uh. Sure. Why not. Hey, I have a date tonight," Taichi perked up at the thought. He was going out with some girl who sat in front of him in Trig, with long black hair and legs up to here. The only problem being, he couldn't remember her name. The guys on the soccer team would be so proud. If only Taichi could manage to be a little more excited about the girl, and not just the pure fact that he had a date. But who could get excited about girls when Yamato was around?

Gulping down the last of his ice cream, the blonde grinned, "That's great. With who? I'll be it's Kazuko, she's hot. Or maybe Yui, from Class B? How about Himeno, from the soccer club? She's really good friends with Sora. I've dated them all. Great in bed."

Taichi rolled his eyes, "I don't want to date any girl who's been in bed with you. She probably has Syphilis."

"I'm quite clean, I'll have you know. Speaking of which, have you even had sex with a girl yet?"

"No," Taichi muttered quietly, digging a toe into the grass, "Some of us don't have groupies surrounding us twenty four seven."

Yamato looked around the park in an exaggerated manner. When he seemed satisfied there was no one else in the immediate area, he said innocently, "There's no one else here. Does that make you my groupie?"

Annoyed, Taichi threw his shoe at him.

"Aw man, put that back on. That is rank."

Most days, it went like this. Taichi and Yamato got together, teased each other mercilessly, got little or no work done, and basically enjoyed each others' company. Neither hinted that they might want to be more than just friends, and on Yamato's part, the thought had never crossed his mind. Once maybe, a long time ago, in the Digiworld. That was back when even his bones seemed chilled and Taichi's punches were the only bit of warmth he could grasp at. For the moment, however, it was only Taichi who suppressed a secret desire for his best friend and masked it with thoughts of soccer practice, video games, and food. But, you know what they say. Once a guy finishes taking care of his hunger, his sleep, and his boredom, a different kind of hunger arises. And one day soon, Taichi's hunger for Yamato was going to cause a problem. He just knew it. Taichi had a knack for predicting when he would cause trouble.

End Chapter One

I'm not used to writing such short chapters.

I already know is going to massacre my pretty indentation and punctuation usage.

And my last complaint for the night is I haven't written a taito ficcy for a good four years. I completely blame my best friend for making me explain the entire plot of Digimon to him.

Reviews are nice. Reviews get you cookies.


	2. On Why Yamato Is A Jackass

At Least We Have Our Health 

**Chapter Two**

A/N: Aww, cute people. Who ever said the secret was that Taichi likes Yama-sama? Moony is much more creative than that. Unfortunately she was in a bad mood last night, so the prologue started dull. Then again, Moony is not so fond of prolgues, so perhaps that's for the best. Anyway, boy on boy action and I don't own it. The boys, I mean. I take full credit for the action.

Yamato's date with Sora was at six thirty on the dot. Sora was a stickler for punctuality, oddly enough. He thought that if she was quite so keen on hygiene they'd be the cutest couple ever. Actually, that wasn't fair of him. Sora took a shower after every soccer practice, unlike certain brunettes he could think of. It was just that she didn't spend enough time on her hair for his liking, or pick out the cutest outfits. In other words, she was Mimi's polar opposite. Dating Mimi might have been better for his reputation. At least if he was dating Mimi, she wouldn't giggle hysterically every time he insisted he was the man of the relationship.

Pulling up to Sora's small house, Yamato inhaled the sweet scent of flowers. Sora's mom had a real thing for flowers. They were everywhere, and in every different variety he could imagine. Truthfully, he only really knew the name of three different species, so there were even more than he could have imagined. Sora gave him an odd look as she climbed into the passenger side of his ice blue car, "Have you seen Tai lately?"

"What? Uh, yeah, I was helping him with Japanese Literature earlier this afternoon. He said he had a date with some cute girl," Yamato wrinkled his nose, "But I don't believe it."

Looking immensely relieved, Sora replied, "Oh good. Mimi told me she saw him at- well, nevermind, that doesn't matter now. Wait, what do you mean you don't believe him? Just because you've dated half the school and the other half's in love with you doesn't mean one of them might not find Taichi attractive!"

She was happy. This meant Taichi hadn't told Yamato yet. Not only did that mean Yamato wouldn't be in a foul mood yet, but it also meant Sora wouldn't have to ditch him and play cleanup duty for Taichi. That boy could cry an ocean when he felt up to it.

"Only half the school's in love with me? Last time I checked it was three quarters. My ratings are going down," Yamato said indignantly, primping his hair in the driver's side mirror.

"It's because you spend too much time at band practice. They haven't seen enough of you. Hell, I haven't seen enough of you," Sora wrapped a long, slender arm around the pale boy's neck and drew him in for a kiss.

When they'd pulled back, Yamato whispered, "That's why we have camera phones. I can start sending pictures of me at practice to you. Would you like that, baby?"

"That's not what I meant," the redhead pouted, "And I thought I told you not to call me baby, baby."

"I know. But I really could send you those pictures. We've got a lot of groupies who'd love to follow my every move with a camera at practice."

"You're so narcissistic. How do you know all those girls are there for you?"

Darkly, Yamato demanded, "Who said they're all girls?"

Sora's face changed, "Oh, and I bet you're really disgusted by the fact there are guys there, drooling everywhere."

"Only a little bit," Yamato shrugged, "It can't be helped what their preferences are."

Sternly, Sora said, "Love is love Yamato. One day, you'll learn that."

"You and Mimi watch gay pornos way too often," Yamato snorted, "I really doubt I'm going to be having any warm and fuzzy moments with anyone of the male specimen any time soon. Except maybe my brother."

"Ooh, incest."

Growing pale, Yamato said, "That's not what I meant."

"You know, aside from being illegal that way, I think Takeru-chan's also a little young for you, don't you think."

Now his face was turning a bright beat red, and he said a bit too loudly, "That's not what I meant, and you know it damnit."

Flabbergasted by her boyfriend's sudden change in mood, Sora nodded mutely.

"Sora, I didn't mean- oh, let's just go to the restaurant. You like Indian food, right?"

Sora didn't answer. Instead she opened the door of the car, "I'm not really hungry tonight. I think maybe you'd better change your attitude, and soon."

"Is that a threat?" the blonde scowled.

"No. I'm just saying you might be hurt if you don't. Look, you said Taichi's got a date, and that's great-"

"What does Tai have to do with anything?" he demanded.

"Shut up and listen to me. You don't have to be such a pompous jerk all the time. You're never like this around Taichi!"

"He's my best friend," Yamato shouted back.

"I thought I was your friend too," Sora said quietly.

Stock still, Yamato couldn't think of anything to say in return.

"Mimi told me she saw Taichi…well, lets just say that he was some place that none of us would expect him to be."

"The mall," suggested Yamato sardonically, thinking of Mimi's usual haunts. He didn't get why Sora was making such a big deal out of nothing.

The redheaded girl lowered her face so that Yamato wouldn't see her wry smile. No, Taichi had definitely not been spotted at the mall. She'd known of her friend's sexual preference for a long time. They'd been in diapers together. Heck, they'd seen each other naked in the bath tub when they were five. There was no way she couldn't know.

She knew about the way he denied it vehemently, and she knew about the casual sex he'd been favoring for over a year now. Sora Takenouchi had the crest of love. She would never miss something so obvious, even if Yamato Ishida had. The only reason Sora hadn't told Yamato was she didn't feel comfortable breaking Taichi's confidence. Plus, the brunette had explained to her how he didn't even know if he was really like that, so why should he tell Yamato.

Sora had explained to Taichi that she knew he really was like that, no matter how much he denied it, and he owed it to Yamato to be honest. Then Taichi had helped her realize that Yamato was so incredibly homophobic it might ruin his friendship with the blonde. Not only that, but the blonde might want Sora to stop talking to him as well. Of course Sora would never allow that to happen, but she was enjoying the popularity that came with being Yamato Ishida's girlfriend. So she supposed it wouldn't hurt to keep the secret for a little while longer.

However, this new secret, well this was something she'd never expected from Taichi. Mimi had told her Hikari even had a part in it. She hadn't known Hikari fancied such things. The problem was, she knew Taichi wouldn't be able to keep this secret for much longer. The school was full of gossips with freak fetishes. They would find him out eventually.

"It's not my place to say. I expect if Taichi wants to tell you, he will. Just, try not to be so judgmental when he does."

End of Chapter

So short again. However, I'm kind of liking the shortness when comparing it to Giddy Brew chapters. This story kind of makes me want to pick up Firefly again. I don't know why I enjoy portraying one or both of the boys as assholes. I don't mean too, really. It just happens.


	3. On Why Tai's Secret Isn't His Sexuality

**Chapter Three**

By: Jondy Macmillan

A/N: I realize it's been a while. College is rough man. Sorry. I haven't forgotten this yet.

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The truth was that Yamato Ishida was not homophobic. Not in the least. He had a harsh mouth and tended to blurt out what he thought before ever actually thinking whether or not it might be a good idea. Sure, it skeezed him out a little when some of his groupies happened to be men. Not because he thought that men couldn't be together, but because he was just a normal, hot blooded heterosexual guy. He would have had the same feeling if a girl under the age of twelve was into him that way.

And he had no trouble with gay guys as long as they weren't into him that way. In fact, one of the members of his band, Kenten, was one of the more promiscuous members of the homosexual population. Kenten had been telling him for years that Taichi was gay.

Yamato wondered if that could be the big secret. Ever since his date with Sora, the question of what Tai wanted to tell him had been plaguing him. And so he did the first thing he always did when he came up short on answers. He called Koushirou.

"Iz, man," Yamato practically purred into the phone.

Koushirou's voice came back crackly and rather irritated, "What do you want, Ishida?"

In high school, Koushirou had made a rather drastic change from computer geek to- well, no, he was still definitely a tech geek. He had just realized that being one could be an asset in the whole game of romance rather than a killer. After all, high school aged girls were so close to being college age girls, and college age girls were starting to think about marriage. Everyone knew it was better to marry a geek than a jock whose prospects may or may not be bright. So most girls in their high school started thinking, why not start now?

It saddened Yamato that Koushirou might possibly be more of a ladies' man than he was. No, Yamato thought, let's not go that far. I still have my band, which definitely gets me major points. Secure in that thought, Yamato turned back to the conversation.

"Why do you always presume that I want something?"

"You always want something," Koushirou sighed, "Look, I'm fixing this girl's laptop right now. Make it quick."

Yamato made lewd noises, but decided to steer clear from making a joke in case Koushirou decided to not help him.

"Is Taichi gay?"

A dry laugh echoed on the other end, "I think he might prefer the word bi, and I'm not entirely sure if he knows himself."

"You always have the answer, don't you?" Yamato replied, amazed.

He could almost hear Koushirou shrug modestly, "You guys are easy to read. Hey, ask me about Mimi's dirty little secret."

"I'll pass right now. Go back to macking on the poor technologically innocent girl," Yamato laughed, "Thanks Iz."

"No problem."

Koushirou clicked off, leaving Yamato with a little peace of mind. Okay, so Taichi liked guys. No big deal. Was that the secret? He'd suspected it for a while, and if Tai told him that, it was going to be anti-climatic. Whatever, maybe that was it. Yamato would be supportive. He would say he knew.

Oh god, what if the secret wasn't that Tai liked guys, but that he liked Yamato?

Whatever. Yamato pushed off the light feeling of disgust that momentarily touched him. He was Yamato Ishida. He held the crest of friendship. And that didn't mean he found it easy to make friends- that just meant that he was extremely unbearable loyal to the ones he had. He wouldn't let Taichi stop being his best friend over that. He would just explain that he didn't return the feelings, but they were still completely cool.

Wait a second. Yamato's heart skipped a beat. Did he return the feelings?

By the time Taichi arrived at his house the next morning, Yamato had worked himself into a frenzy. He wasn't sure if Tai liked him, and he wasn't sure if he liked Tai, and he wasn't even sure where all these damned feelings came from. He liked Sora. Sora, his perfect, gentle, amazing girlfriend. Only, now that he really thought 

about it he was starting to wonder if all his favorite aspects about his girlfriend weren't the ones that reminded him most of Tai. Shit.

Yamato didn't like being confused. It messed with his hair; all that excess heat from too much thinking caused it to frizz.

He jumped when his best friend entered his room, yelping, "Uh, Tai, what are you doing here?"

"I walk with you to school every morning," Tai cast him a quizzical look, "Dude, you look terrible."

"Gee, thanks."

"No, I mean it. Are you okay? Do you have an exam you had to cram for or something?"

"If I had an exam, you'd be screwed. You do happen to be in all my classes."

Taichi grimaced, "Right. So what's up?"

"Well, the thing is, Sora might have mentioned that you had something you wanted to tell me."

Taichi paled, squeaking out, "Sora knows?"

"Apparently everybody knows. Except me. It's been driving me bonkers all night. What's the secret, Tai?"

"Yama, you have to understand. I would have told you. I just thought you wouldn't approve."

"I get that. Look, Tai, are you gay?"

Taichi's complexion was completely white now, his dark tan vanishing in the tide of fear that had overtaken him. For a moment, he couldn't breathe. When he realized that Yamato's piercing ice blue eyes were boring a hole in him, waiting expectantly for an answer, Taichi felt trapped.

Eventually he stuttered, "Er…I might be. I mean no. I mean yes. I mean I'm bi. That's not the point. That's not the secret. Although I guess that's a kind of secret. But um, that one I wasn't hiding so much as I'm still kind of figuring that one out."

Yamato relaxed, "Okay. I'm okay with that."

"You are?"

"Kenten's been telling me that you play for his team forever," Yamato enunciated the forever just to drive the point home.

"Kenten's a prick."

"My sentiments exactly. Wait. How did your date with that girl go then, if you're so um, confused?"

"Miserable. Even if I was positive I liked girls, she was absolutely horrible. It was like going on a date with Medusa. She actually tried to make me lick ice cream off her shoe."

"Lick it?" Yamato wrinkled his nose.

Taichi held up his hands, "We didn't have any napkins and she told me they were designer."

"Did you do it?"

Affronted, the brunette retorted, "Absolutely not. I have dignity."

At Yamato's shrew look he continued, "Okay, maybe I don't have dignity, but that banshee definitely had things growing between her toes. Come on, dude."

The blonde smirked, "So what's the big secret then? Aside from the fact you may or may not be gay or bi or into dead people and that you licked Medusa's toes?"

"I did not like her toes, and I am not into dead people. You would like that, wouldn't you? You could keep me as the sideshow for your band."

Yamato chuckled, but it was clear he was still waiting for an answer.

"Okay. The thing is, I actually wanted to show you all. At the same time. I was planning it for tonight, but I guess if everyone else knows…How'd they all find out, anyway?"

"Mimi," Yamato replied, knowing that pretty much explained it all. The pink haired girl had one of the purest hearts out of anyone he knew; one of the reasons he'd never tried to hook up with her. Still, she had the misfortune of being a hopeless blabbermouth.

Taichi smacked his palm against his forehead, "I should have known she couldn't keep her mouth shut. I had thought she hadn't seen me. Too much to hope for, I guess."

"Well she did, so spill."

Firmly, Taichi responded, "No."

"No?"

"No," he confirmed.

"Why not?" Yamato exploded. Now that the gay question had been answered, his feelings were in a whirlwind, trying to discover what that meant for him. And now the answer to his original question was going to remain a mystery? He didn't think he could take another night of speculation, worry, and misery.

"Tonight," Taichi grinned, realizing that his enigmatic response was killing Yamato. He didn't want to torture his friend, persay, it was just that nervousness had tied his stomach into knots and he figured the best way to alleviate his anxiety was to push it on to someone else. Yamato was a big boy. He could handle it.

"Fine," Yamato breathed out, exasperated. He was going to kill Taichi for this one day. He swore he would. The boy was just building anticipation because he needed the drama. Yamato hated drama. Unless he was the one making it, of course. Still, for Taichi, he'd let it slide, "Tonight."

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A/N: I'd like to acknowledge the reviewers who actually took the time to give me valuable insight on this story. I've written quite a few things for both this site and , and while I've probably gotten more reviews for some of my other works, I don't think any of them have made me laugh as hard or question what I was doing as the ones for this tale. Thanks to everyone, and to answer a few…

_Master of Destruction -- You are by far one of my favorite reviewers. Your comments are constructive and extremely interesting. Don't worry; I didn't forget that Yamato holds the crest of friendship. I just think that a person can be a jerk to their boy/girl and to others and still be an extremely loyal friend. I actually know some people like that. Hell, I might be like that. And don't worry, Firefly is worthy of being hated at this point. Although I will tell you that if I ever get around to continuing it the story pulls a one eighty and sports some incredibly sweet taito moments. Although I'm still not sure whether it actually is a taito fic…Anyway, you make me laugh. Write something, because I have a feeling you'd be fantastic at it! _

_Hakion n' Xubose -- I would almost take that as insulting if I didn't have quite a few reviews to the contrary and hadn't taken the time to go see what you'd written. Proper grammar is our friend. Anyway, if you review just to tell people how boring you think something is, maybe you should…how do I put this nicely….STOP READING IT. But your review made me laugh, so if you want to continue reading a story that puts you to sleep, by all means. Your story certainly did that to me. Thank you! (I'm actually being sincere, and I'll stop the cattiness). In all honesty, I'll try to make my chapters more interesting for you, and I hope you'll try to be more grammatically correct for the next chapter of your story. Good luck to us both. _

_Sun thief -- Aw, you're so sweet! I'm glad you like it, and yes, I'm trying to be careful and edge around the whole Japanese culture thing. I actually started college with a double major in it, so I kind of understand the different dynamic- plus, you know, I've been there. And don't worry; I don't really listen to people unless they have something interesting to say. Most people have been really good with the constructive criticism- although they could use a course on reading more closely, since some of their points are kind of, um, wrong. Or at least have no basis as of yet. Anyway, thank you so much again. _

_Dizzy-otaku-- Hope my fetish doesn't disappoint. It gets clearer in the next chapter. _

_SovereignofSilence3 --I actually really appreciate that you took the time to review on this point. While I do agree that sixteen is too young to be having casual sex, that doesn't change the fact that many, many, many sixteen year olds have it. When I was a sophomore in high school, nearly seventy five percent of my class was having sex, and I'd say a good fifteen percent of them were doing it with quite a few people. That doesn't make it right, of course, and in retrospect I kind of wish I'd changed the age. I was younger, and foolish. Ah well. Thanks!_


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